In many ways, the Great Recession has been a frightening
time for planners. As development slowed, the flow of applications submitted
for new development slowed from its torrent at the height of the housing boom
to the trickle it is today. With the Blog Post

Mark Hinshaw writes that back in 2006, developers were snatching up any bit of undeveloped land in Snohomish County, WA. Today, those far-flung projects have suffered much more than inner-city developments.

While some have pigeonholed him as anti-business, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn is taking the city through the recovery of the economy in a positive but potentially hard-to-swallow way, according to this column.

As the downturn in the market physically reshapes the metropolitan regions of the United States, the shifting populations and economies of its cities and suburban areas are becoming increasingly intertwined.

The New York Times, in a front page article, was startled to conclude that the housing market continued to suffer, because "buyers now demand something smaller, cheaper and, thanks to $4 a gallon gas, as close to their jobs as possible."

Jonathan Lerner gives an extensive analysis of the benefits of turning failed commercial properties, or "redfields", into strategically-picked park land for revitalization purposes. Some conversion would be permanent, some just land banking.